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Assignment in Brittany
A British spy, dropped into northern Brittany during the German occupation, attempts to impersonate a simple peasant
373 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1989
130 people are currently reading
1164 people want to read
About the author
Helen MacInnes
67 books258 followersHelen MacInnes was a Scottish-American author of espionage novels. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in Scotland in 1928 with a degree in French and German. A librarian, she married Professor Gilbert Highet in 1932 and moved with her husband to New York in 1937 so he could teach classics at Columbia University. She wrote her first novel, Above Suspicion, in 1939. She wrote many bestselling suspense novels and became an American citizen in 1951.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 174 reviews
November 28, 2022
Wow!
I'm going to give this book the full 5★, even though a couple of parts dragged for me.
Do you know when this book was first published?
1942.
When WW2 was still raging on. Ms MacInnes moved to the States in 1937 & communications (of course) aren't immediate the way they are now. But I'm going to assume that Ms MacInnes had done her research - or even talked to people who had had first hand experience.
Martin Hearn was the body double of a badly injured (in Britain) Breton & is parachuted into Brittany to take his place in a village of people who knew the real Bertrand Corlay well. Martin is also fluent in French, but will he be able to deceive people who knew the real Corlay well - like his mother & his fiancée?
Like I said above, there were some slow patches, but both the beginning & the end were taut & exciting & I found the
Be prepared for some chauvinism;
Disappointing from a female author, but unfortunately so common in 2oth century fiction.
I still loved it.
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
I'm going to give this book the full 5★, even though a couple of parts dragged for me.
Do you know when this book was first published?
1942.
When WW2 was still raging on. Ms MacInnes moved to the States in 1937 & communications (of course) aren't immediate the way they are now. But I'm going to assume that Ms MacInnes had done her research - or even talked to people who had had first hand experience.
Martin Hearn was the body double of a badly injured (in Britain) Breton & is parachuted into Brittany to take his place in a village of people who knew the real Bertrand Corlay well. Martin is also fluent in French, but will he be able to deceive people who knew the real Corlay well - like his mother & his fiancée?
Like I said above, there were some slow patches, but both the beginning & the end were taut & exciting & I found the
Be prepared for some chauvinism;
And yet it was difficult to restrain his own particular brand of humour when a young woman took herself so seriously: still more difficult when the young woman was so beautiful as this one.
Disappointing from a female author, but unfortunately so common in 2oth century fiction.
I still loved it.
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
August 21, 2018
***2018 Summer of Spies***
How is it that I have never run into Helen MacInnes before this? If I ever do another reading project featuring espionage literature, I will definitely be adding more of her work to the reading list!
The premise is an unlikely one—after a WWII battle, someone notices an injured Breton man who looks just like an active English spy. Not only does this spy Hearne uncannily resemble the disabled man, but he also speaks Breton (a pretty obscure Celtic language) and has studied the culture. He spends a great deal of time interviewing the Breton fellow, learning as many details of his life in his small village as possible and then is parachuted in, to report back on Nazi activity in the area.
I have to hand it to MacInnes, she handles this rather unlikely scenario so skillfully that I soon gave up my reservations and plunged wholeheartedly into the story. It’s a good, tense plot with excellent pacing. First Hearne must deal with “his” closest family and fiancée while passing off his differentness as shell shock. But it turns out that he has exchanged places with a pretty unlikeable guy and his own honourable behaviour causes others to question his real identity. Will they unmask Hearne or will they help him with his mission?
The very first thing I thought of when starting this novel was Tana French’s second Dublin Murder Squad book, The Likeness, where a young detective, Cassie Maddox, is called to a murder scene. The victim is Cassie’s double, using a fake identity developed by Cassie when she was undercover. Of course, Cassie gets sent into the life of the dead girl to see what she can discover. French also was able to carry off that most unlikely scenario, in my opinion, through the sheer brilliance of her writing. I’d really like to think that she maybe got her idea from Helen MacInnes.
I love finding great writers and finding links between the works of authors that I enjoy. This book was a win in both of those columns.
How is it that I have never run into Helen MacInnes before this? If I ever do another reading project featuring espionage literature, I will definitely be adding more of her work to the reading list!
The premise is an unlikely one—after a WWII battle, someone notices an injured Breton man who looks just like an active English spy. Not only does this spy Hearne uncannily resemble the disabled man, but he also speaks Breton (a pretty obscure Celtic language) and has studied the culture. He spends a great deal of time interviewing the Breton fellow, learning as many details of his life in his small village as possible and then is parachuted in, to report back on Nazi activity in the area.
I have to hand it to MacInnes, she handles this rather unlikely scenario so skillfully that I soon gave up my reservations and plunged wholeheartedly into the story. It’s a good, tense plot with excellent pacing. First Hearne must deal with “his” closest family and fiancée while passing off his differentness as shell shock. But it turns out that he has exchanged places with a pretty unlikeable guy and his own honourable behaviour causes others to question his real identity. Will they unmask Hearne or will they help him with his mission?
The very first thing I thought of when starting this novel was Tana French’s second Dublin Murder Squad book, The Likeness, where a young detective, Cassie Maddox, is called to a murder scene. The victim is Cassie’s double, using a fake identity developed by Cassie when she was undercover. Of course, Cassie gets sent into the life of the dead girl to see what she can discover. French also was able to carry off that most unlikely scenario, in my opinion, through the sheer brilliance of her writing. I’d really like to think that she maybe got her idea from Helen MacInnes.
I love finding great writers and finding links between the works of authors that I enjoy. This book was a win in both of those columns.
August 7, 2018
Helen MacInnes was a major author from the 40's to the 80's. Her books were always looked forward to and were consistent best sellers. She is all but forgotten today. I read her a lot in the 60's & 70's. There is no better author of the dramatic spy novel than MacInnes. The book was published in 1940 (her second) and was made into a move in 1942 starring a French actor whose name I cannot now recall. An Englishman parachutes into Brittany to take the place of a look-alike who has fascist tendencies. The suspense builds throughout and leads to a somewhat ambiguous ending. But remember, in 1940 the ending of the war was ambiguous. Highly recommended. If you have not read MacInnes I would recommend "Decision At Delphi", "North From Rome", and "The Salzburg Connection".
August 30, 2021
Excellent Helen MacInnes spy novel. Loved it. Helen happened to be married to classical education thinker Gilbert Highet.
Want to read
April 19, 2021Does anyone remember this amazing, taut, fast-paced thriller? Written in 1941 by a woman whose plotting chops are up there with Dame Agatha's, the publisher has re-released her catalog on Kindle for $2.99 apiece!
They're worth the spondulix, I swear. Start with this title, which kept teenaged me flipping pages until way too late on several school nights.
They're worth the spondulix, I swear. Start with this title, which kept teenaged me flipping pages until way too late on several school nights.
July 29, 2017
Review taken from my blog, headsfilmreviews dot com
Helen MacInnes was a remarkable woman. She was a Scots Presbyterian young lady of Glasgow (my mother's stomping grounds), degreed in French and German, a librarian, a classic German literature translator, a European traveler, an amateur actress and a wife of an MI6 British intelligence agent. She has a number of espionage thrillers to her name, and her second novel, Assignment in Brittany, reads as though she had been fully immersed in Breton culture. So realistic were her spy novels that this particular one was required reading for agents being sent to occupied France to aid the French Resistance. It gives a very finely crafted picture of the details and care that such work requires. Other books from her pen have been accused of taking nuggets of classified material from her husband’s mind and incorporating them into the plot, which makes for a great dose of authenticity. Written in 1942, Assignment in Brittany had al the richness of a tale spun by one who’d “been there and done that.”
While it seemed to get off to a rather slow start, it quickly picked up the pace and became a well-written spy-yarn and filled with rich images and suspense. The plot follows a British agent, our hero Hearne, who is discovered to be the spitting image of a guy who had been picked up wounded in a battle with Axis forces, one Bertrand Corlay. This fellow Corlay, a Frenchman from Brittany, will spend the rest of the war in the hospital. Here is an opportunity to send Hearne in his place. Hearne learns him well, his language nuances, his town, the people there, what they do and who they are. Hearne learns Corlay's business, and even had a cosmetic birthmark applied, which comes in handy later. He is going to drop in by parachute, take up the role of Corlay, and find out all info about the state of things in Brittany, and report back regularly. After all, the war effort includes a coming invasion almost two years away, so any kind of intel about the Nazis is vital intel, especially in this area where a future invasion might occur.
Can Hearne pull off the doppelgänger assignment? We learn quickly that there are things Corlay did not tell Hearne, especially once he realized why Hearne wanted to know everything about him. Would Hearn fool Corlay’s own mother? His betrothed? The farm hands? His mistress that he didn't know about... More importantly, would Hearne be able to move seamlessly into the role that Corlay did not even mention, his darker side? Would you tell some stranger who looked just like you every secret you kept?
They say that if you just boldly act like you know what you are doing, you can pull of miracles. Or as Buchan wrote in Greenmantle about the awful Colonel von Stumm - that is, treat the Germans with a radical brazen audacity - you can pass muster as who you purport to be, despite the chinks in your armor. I loved Hearn because he did just this with great gusto. It was all or nothing with his act, and it bought a few seconds, sowed a few doubts, provoked a hesitation or two. This is a fantastic plot that moves along with just the right balance of rich detail and action.
MacInnes has the ability to craft a scene, a place, and characters. I found myself scouring maps of north-western France for some of the place-names so I could examine the land on Google Maps’ street view. Besides the obvious larger cities, I discovered like so many readers, that the places are mostly fictional. That said, MacInnes' travels, familiarity with the languages and nuances of regional cultures, and her experience in Brittany gives her credible subject-matter authority. The Breton culture, its rebel attitude, its mistrust of outsiders, shine through and form good plot-moving devices. The condition of the minds and hearts of the locals is well presented.
As for writing craft, she excelled. There was a fishing village with a lurid and run-down pub called Golden Star that was so vivid I felt like I was there. I could feel the damp night and smell the mud flats. In my mind I had visualized the proprietor, a burly old salt named Louis, as soon as I had met him. It was one of those ‘scenes’ that seems to represent the whole book when you think back on the story as a whole.
MacInnes knew spy craft very well, and if you were sharp you picked up some good observational advice. Like how one guy was a bit too liberal with the use of cooking oil while everyone else in occupied France is scraping by and using as little as possible. That clue, combined with a few others, show that the cook might be in the pay of the enemy. Assignment in Brittany was full of practical little observations of that sort, which made it a useful training tool for men heading behind the lines. These are the details that shine.
The end of the story is frequently maligned as sentimental sap. Indeed, it resolves a sub-plot, and it is a bit sappy. But this is easily overlooked and outweighed by the rest of the story. I ended up skimming the last chapter once I knew how it resolved.
MacInnes was also staunchly pro-liberty. This is certainly a natural result of her Calvinistic worldview taught from the Presbyterian tradition of her upbringing. Such protestantism can’t help but stir up a powerful anti-tyrant and anti-statist mind, which is why the west was built by protestant thought to begin with (there's my jab at fascists, communists, heathens and lefties). Her position was refreshingly clear in many places - Hearne himself mused on the cruelties of fascism and the fools in charge of the European decline so plainly seen as modernity progressed onward. She observed, through her main character’s thoughts: "There was the tragedy of it: if only they could have realized the danger while there was still time, while they were still free to carry a gun and still free to make guns for themselves. Instead, they would now find that it costs three times as much to retrieve a position as it takes to hold it."
It was a refreshingly excellent story in terms of its avoidance of cheap thrills and base filth. She wrote cleanly while leaving out no gritty details, even making known the steamy affairs of a femme fatale with skilled taste. She did not need to resort to the graphic crudeness and perverted imagery of lesser authors, she is a real writer. Indeed, my hardback edition was a used library copy from a midwestern American high school, which means nothing in today's hyper-sexualized, humanistic state schools, but through the mid-sixties, its vetted presence on the shelf meant something. So I would suggest this book to anyone interested in the subject of espionage, World War II, France, or just good thrilling stories that aren't template-tales and aren't filled with crude brain-rot. Assignment in Brittany was a thrilling tale with a unique plot, and gave me insights into the French condition I would not have had without. If I had to rate it with stars, 4 out of 5. For full disclosure, I did read most of this book while thoroughly enjoying a well-earned few days of vacation, which always makes a book better received. Still, I'm going to have to look for more works by MacInnes, especially of this period.
Helen MacInnes was a remarkable woman. She was a Scots Presbyterian young lady of Glasgow (my mother's stomping grounds), degreed in French and German, a librarian, a classic German literature translator, a European traveler, an amateur actress and a wife of an MI6 British intelligence agent. She has a number of espionage thrillers to her name, and her second novel, Assignment in Brittany, reads as though she had been fully immersed in Breton culture. So realistic were her spy novels that this particular one was required reading for agents being sent to occupied France to aid the French Resistance. It gives a very finely crafted picture of the details and care that such work requires. Other books from her pen have been accused of taking nuggets of classified material from her husband’s mind and incorporating them into the plot, which makes for a great dose of authenticity. Written in 1942, Assignment in Brittany had al the richness of a tale spun by one who’d “been there and done that.”
While it seemed to get off to a rather slow start, it quickly picked up the pace and became a well-written spy-yarn and filled with rich images and suspense. The plot follows a British agent, our hero Hearne, who is discovered to be the spitting image of a guy who had been picked up wounded in a battle with Axis forces, one Bertrand Corlay. This fellow Corlay, a Frenchman from Brittany, will spend the rest of the war in the hospital. Here is an opportunity to send Hearne in his place. Hearne learns him well, his language nuances, his town, the people there, what they do and who they are. Hearne learns Corlay's business, and even had a cosmetic birthmark applied, which comes in handy later. He is going to drop in by parachute, take up the role of Corlay, and find out all info about the state of things in Brittany, and report back regularly. After all, the war effort includes a coming invasion almost two years away, so any kind of intel about the Nazis is vital intel, especially in this area where a future invasion might occur.
Can Hearne pull off the doppelgänger assignment? We learn quickly that there are things Corlay did not tell Hearne, especially once he realized why Hearne wanted to know everything about him. Would Hearn fool Corlay’s own mother? His betrothed? The farm hands? His mistress that he didn't know about... More importantly, would Hearne be able to move seamlessly into the role that Corlay did not even mention, his darker side? Would you tell some stranger who looked just like you every secret you kept?
They say that if you just boldly act like you know what you are doing, you can pull of miracles. Or as Buchan wrote in Greenmantle about the awful Colonel von Stumm - that is, treat the Germans with a radical brazen audacity - you can pass muster as who you purport to be, despite the chinks in your armor. I loved Hearn because he did just this with great gusto. It was all or nothing with his act, and it bought a few seconds, sowed a few doubts, provoked a hesitation or two. This is a fantastic plot that moves along with just the right balance of rich detail and action.
MacInnes has the ability to craft a scene, a place, and characters. I found myself scouring maps of north-western France for some of the place-names so I could examine the land on Google Maps’ street view. Besides the obvious larger cities, I discovered like so many readers, that the places are mostly fictional. That said, MacInnes' travels, familiarity with the languages and nuances of regional cultures, and her experience in Brittany gives her credible subject-matter authority. The Breton culture, its rebel attitude, its mistrust of outsiders, shine through and form good plot-moving devices. The condition of the minds and hearts of the locals is well presented.
As for writing craft, she excelled. There was a fishing village with a lurid and run-down pub called Golden Star that was so vivid I felt like I was there. I could feel the damp night and smell the mud flats. In my mind I had visualized the proprietor, a burly old salt named Louis, as soon as I had met him. It was one of those ‘scenes’ that seems to represent the whole book when you think back on the story as a whole.
MacInnes knew spy craft very well, and if you were sharp you picked up some good observational advice. Like how one guy was a bit too liberal with the use of cooking oil while everyone else in occupied France is scraping by and using as little as possible. That clue, combined with a few others, show that the cook might be in the pay of the enemy. Assignment in Brittany was full of practical little observations of that sort, which made it a useful training tool for men heading behind the lines. These are the details that shine.
The end of the story is frequently maligned as sentimental sap. Indeed, it resolves a sub-plot, and it is a bit sappy. But this is easily overlooked and outweighed by the rest of the story. I ended up skimming the last chapter once I knew how it resolved.
MacInnes was also staunchly pro-liberty. This is certainly a natural result of her Calvinistic worldview taught from the Presbyterian tradition of her upbringing. Such protestantism can’t help but stir up a powerful anti-tyrant and anti-statist mind, which is why the west was built by protestant thought to begin with (there's my jab at fascists, communists, heathens and lefties). Her position was refreshingly clear in many places - Hearne himself mused on the cruelties of fascism and the fools in charge of the European decline so plainly seen as modernity progressed onward. She observed, through her main character’s thoughts: "There was the tragedy of it: if only they could have realized the danger while there was still time, while they were still free to carry a gun and still free to make guns for themselves. Instead, they would now find that it costs three times as much to retrieve a position as it takes to hold it."
It was a refreshingly excellent story in terms of its avoidance of cheap thrills and base filth. She wrote cleanly while leaving out no gritty details, even making known the steamy affairs of a femme fatale with skilled taste. She did not need to resort to the graphic crudeness and perverted imagery of lesser authors, she is a real writer. Indeed, my hardback edition was a used library copy from a midwestern American high school, which means nothing in today's hyper-sexualized, humanistic state schools, but through the mid-sixties, its vetted presence on the shelf meant something. So I would suggest this book to anyone interested in the subject of espionage, World War II, France, or just good thrilling stories that aren't template-tales and aren't filled with crude brain-rot. Assignment in Brittany was a thrilling tale with a unique plot, and gave me insights into the French condition I would not have had without. If I had to rate it with stars, 4 out of 5. For full disclosure, I did read most of this book while thoroughly enjoying a well-earned few days of vacation, which always makes a book better received. Still, I'm going to have to look for more works by MacInnes, especially of this period.
January 29, 2021
Wow. That was a lot of fun! And also very, very well written.
One of the things I love about MacInnes's writing is that it was written during WWII, and so it captures the feeling of uncertainty and everything-in-the-balance that was so prevalent during that time. I feel like a lot of WWII historical fiction feels more...certain? Or confident? This is neither, because obviously at the time, no one knew how the war would end.
I found the plot extraordinarily creative, and although I feel like Hearne finding his doppelganger was a tad deus ex machina (I mean, it's the exposition, though. I can permit some deus ex machina), I thought most of it was super realistic.
I love, love, love the setting. The parts in Mont Saint-Michel were so vivid and real, and wow I want to go there now. (Dangit, COVID!) And the countryside of Brittany was described in such a loving way, as well.
The characters! Hearne! Hearne is my favorite. He's such an honorable person, and SUCH an Englishman, and it's just...very endearing. Anne is lovely, Mrs. Corlay is surprisingly fantastic, and the farm workers...<3.
OH! And I was so happy to see again! I missed him. :)
Thank you so much to Rebecca for the recommendation!
Four stars! With definite potential to move up on a reread. :)
One of the things I love about MacInnes's writing is that it was written during WWII, and so it captures the feeling of uncertainty and everything-in-the-balance that was so prevalent during that time. I feel like a lot of WWII historical fiction feels more...certain? Or confident? This is neither, because obviously at the time, no one knew how the war would end.
I found the plot extraordinarily creative, and although I feel like Hearne finding his doppelganger was a tad deus ex machina (I mean, it's the exposition, though. I can permit some deus ex machina), I thought most of it was super realistic.
I love, love, love the setting. The parts in Mont Saint-Michel were so vivid and real, and wow I want to go there now. (Dangit, COVID!) And the countryside of Brittany was described in such a loving way, as well.
The characters! Hearne! Hearne is my favorite. He's such an honorable person, and SUCH an Englishman, and it's just...very endearing. Anne is lovely, Mrs. Corlay is surprisingly fantastic, and the farm workers...<3.
OH! And I was so happy to see again! I missed him. :)
Thank you so much to Rebecca for the recommendation!
Four stars! With definite potential to move up on a reread. :)
May 16, 2010
I have been reading an old musty edition of this book, which I borrowed from a friend because it appears to be out of print. It is a spy story in which the main character impersonates a Frenchman, whom he resembles, and takes up residence at his home in Brittany. The Frenchman's mother is shortsighted and much is made of this -- unncessarily, in my view. I am also shortsighted and I am absolutely sure that very little of the information we use to recognise people is visual. Many great stories involve some sort of implausible impersonation, of course, so it's probably best to leave that to one side and plunge headlong into occupied rural France. The author takes us there by parachute and it's an exhilarating descent. I find the way Helen MacInnes writes to be very congenial. It is without humour, which is a bit dull, but she pays close attention to all the evocative little details that bring a place to life. Reading one of her books is quite a sensual experience, which makes it especially frustrating to have to read a foetid old cast-off from a friend. But it's OK to read in the bath, especially if you can afford a liberal lacing of pungent lotions or oils. The story becomes more plausible as it develops and I enjoyed it more and more.
June 30, 2009
Even though my 1967 DELL paperback copy calls this book a "haunting novel of romance and suspense" on its front cover, it is most definitely a dyed-in-the-wool spy novel. Because the copy was given to me in a box of books, I persevered and read the entire 336 pages. With the book written in 1942, I thought it was interesting that Ms. Macinnes pointed out in her introduction in the reprint of the book that after WWII, she personally met veterans who tried to track down the places described in the book. I did further research while reading the book, and found claims that the U.S. military actually used the novel to train Allied personnel who would be working covertly in German-occupied France. Ms. Macinnes' talents must have been abundant to pen a novel that was apparently so true to life for the times. However, here's fair warning, to pick the novel up as an expected romance, it's misleading. DELL must have been trying to sell more copies of the novel to claim it as a romance on the front and back covers.
April 7, 2007
The first scenes of jumping into Brittany were used as training for parajumpers in the military. Great story!
June 7, 2016
Good spy novel set in WWII
January 15, 2011
I am headed to Brittany in May. So the title had me from the get go.
I loved reading about the old towns and kept my map handy. Unfortunately of course the smaller villages are imaginary.
But I mean to track down what I can. And the history of the Breton language is interesting.
A good old fashioned WW2 intrigue.
I loved reading about the old towns and kept my map handy. Unfortunately of course the smaller villages are imaginary.
But I mean to track down what I can. And the history of the Breton language is interesting.
A good old fashioned WW2 intrigue.
June 18, 2016
I am a huge fan of Helen MacInnes. /Assignment in Brittany/ is one of her early works set during WWII. One thing I think MacInnes excels at is writing from the male perspective. Add in a tense espionage mission, a "Tale of Martin Guerre" case of assumed identity, and love and you have a story with real stakes. The uncertain ending just makes it especially poignant. Highly recommend!
October 10, 2025
A discussion in the GR group Reading the Twentieth Century led me to try Helen MacInnes for the first time. I've seen one or two movies made from her books, but never read her. In fact, until recently I was unaware of her body of work (older movies often don't make as big a deal as contemporary ones about their connection to a published book).
This is a spy/thriller in the mold of John Buchan, with elements that reminded me strongly of Baroness Orczy's Scarlet Pimpernel tales. To my mind, it's rather dated, but enjoyable enough if taken in that context. I was disappointed that MacInnes adhered so strongly to racial stereotyping: The work was written during WWII, and the need to paint the German enemy as unrelievedly evil is understandable, if unfortunate. But the florid picture of the heroic and pure-hearted Celt, countering the evil and authoritarian Teuton was nonsense. Justifying this by referencing Tacitus made the offense worse. It collapses various peoples and developments over 18 centuries into a racial epithet, obliterates historical realities, and plays fast and loose with terminology to obscure the English people's own Germanic heritage.
Books are written in specific contexts, and I strongly believe we all need to approach the people and writings of other eras with humility, knowing that we ourselves espouse ideas and write and act in ways that will turn out in a generation or more to be just as flawed. I mention the use of racial tropes partly because I'm writing in an era of fascist use of racial tropes, which makes me more sensitive to their appearance in other places. Partly because it was something that greatly diminished the pleasure I might otherwise have had from this story.
My second criticism is that the book is just too long. Even by the standards of the age, as near as I can sense them from contemporaneous literature, this book seems to me that it just goes on and on and on and on.
I'm planning to readAbove Suspicion later in the year as a buddy read with others in RTTC. I'm interested to see if that book -- the first of MacInnes' spy novels -- is more satisfactory.
This is a spy/thriller in the mold of John Buchan, with elements that reminded me strongly of Baroness Orczy's Scarlet Pimpernel tales. To my mind, it's rather dated, but enjoyable enough if taken in that context. I was disappointed that MacInnes adhered so strongly to racial stereotyping: The work was written during WWII, and the need to paint the German enemy as unrelievedly evil is understandable, if unfortunate. But the florid picture of the heroic and pure-hearted Celt, countering the evil and authoritarian Teuton was nonsense. Justifying this by referencing Tacitus made the offense worse. It collapses various peoples and developments over 18 centuries into a racial epithet, obliterates historical realities, and plays fast and loose with terminology to obscure the English people's own Germanic heritage.
Books are written in specific contexts, and I strongly believe we all need to approach the people and writings of other eras with humility, knowing that we ourselves espouse ideas and write and act in ways that will turn out in a generation or more to be just as flawed. I mention the use of racial tropes partly because I'm writing in an era of fascist use of racial tropes, which makes me more sensitive to their appearance in other places. Partly because it was something that greatly diminished the pleasure I might otherwise have had from this story.
My second criticism is that the book is just too long. Even by the standards of the age, as near as I can sense them from contemporaneous literature, this book seems to me that it just goes on and on and on and on.
I'm planning to readAbove Suspicion later in the year as a buddy read with others in RTTC. I'm interested to see if that book -- the first of MacInnes' spy novels -- is more satisfactory.
March 12, 2018
I am on a classic thrillers of the genre kick right now (escapism?) - these early HM books are amazing. The characters and plots and writing all superb - utterly superb - and the pacing and density of the story remind me of how writing decades ago felt more meaty than a lot of similar genre fiction now. There is just no comparison between this and most modern thrillers - this is amazing.
But the thing that is always in the back of my head is the view that MacInnes, who was there in Europe in the 1930s, and was writing these books BEFORE AND DURING WORLD WAR TWO, had of the build up and the events. Unlike today's writers, she's not coming from a place of what she's studied about the rise of fascism - she was there for it. Hiking all over Europe during the rise. Married to a spy. She was there. She obviously thought deeply about the conditions precedent and about what it takes for good people - the average person in the average town, the leader of the little town, the shopkeeper of the town, the NEIGHBOR - to turn.
She was there. If you want to know what it was like - read her books. They are far more terrifying than any horror story, because humans are the ultimate killing machine, are we not?
But the thing that is always in the back of my head is the view that MacInnes, who was there in Europe in the 1930s, and was writing these books BEFORE AND DURING WORLD WAR TWO, had of the build up and the events. Unlike today's writers, she's not coming from a place of what she's studied about the rise of fascism - she was there for it. Hiking all over Europe during the rise. Married to a spy. She was there. She obviously thought deeply about the conditions precedent and about what it takes for good people - the average person in the average town, the leader of the little town, the shopkeeper of the town, the NEIGHBOR - to turn.
She was there. If you want to know what it was like - read her books. They are far more terrifying than any horror story, because humans are the ultimate killing machine, are we not?
April 22, 2013
With the Nazi occupation of northern France, the underground resistance is forced to sneak about in the dark. Hearne, British soldier whose French is excellent, is sent to spy as part of that resistance, and he finds help in hiding with the beautiful Anne. Danger abounds. Action, adventure, suspense -- a gripping story here, memorable in itself and for the skill with which it is told. Helen MacInnes seems to have passed from the scene, but her spy novels are well worth looking up, and this one could be best of all in my view.
March 27, 2012
This was something my husband picked up at a flea market and I expected very little from it. It turned out to be an excellent, absorbing and well-paced story. And it gave a great sense of the fear and confusion in the late days of the second world war in France, where the protagonist goes undercover to gather intelligence in occupied France.
October 6, 2013
A classic spy novel set in WWII. MacInnes writes intelligently, letting the mysteries and tiny observations of human behavior drive the plot rather than complicated conspiracy motives. Drifted toward a melodramatic ending but pulled itself out in the final moments.
January 13, 2011
Iloved that this book was written ABOUT the war DURING the war
March 31, 2014
Why must sappy endings ruin otherwise excellent sneaking-running-shooting spy novels?
July 28, 2020
I'm pretty sure Cindy Rollins recommended this one. Excellent, engaging historical fiction. I want to read more from this author.
November 15, 2025
Gripping tale written during WW2 and reading like the ur- story for many a tale about the plucky French Resistance , the binary nature of the women ( saint or slut ) and the Terrible Bosh.
It's pacy and engaging with plenty of drama , a cool headed and focused hero, somewhat improbably able to impersonate a well known french local and fool everyone. His heart predictably melts and there's a clutch of brave Bretons who aid his escapades and escapes . The ending was predictable and melodramatic .
Would it be too much to ask that a talented female writer delivered more complexity in her female characters , even a female spy , or was this clichéd wedge of male heroism necessary at the time to bolster the public mood .
No doubt it did much to galvanise and inspire British readers at a time when all seemed lost and it's good to get inside the necessary propaganda.
Hands up those who think the final sentence was left ambiguous enough for a sequel .
It's pacy and engaging with plenty of drama , a cool headed and focused hero, somewhat improbably able to impersonate a well known french local and fool everyone. His heart predictably melts and there's a clutch of brave Bretons who aid his escapades and escapes . The ending was predictable and melodramatic .
Would it be too much to ask that a talented female writer delivered more complexity in her female characters , even a female spy , or was this clichéd wedge of male heroism necessary at the time to bolster the public mood .
No doubt it did much to galvanise and inspire British readers at a time when all seemed lost and it's good to get inside the necessary propaganda.
Hands up those who think the final sentence was left ambiguous enough for a sequel .
July 12, 2016
I have been re-reading Helen MacInnes novels, which were beach-reading staples as a teenager. Her work holds up very well, considering the significant changes since she wrote.
Assignment in Brittany was her second novel, set during World War II and published in 1942 -- very much of-the-moment in her day. She captures beautifully the isolation Hearne feels as he hides in occupied France and figures out what he can and cannot accomplish. The romance is a little predictable by modern standards, and the crotchety mother has become a bit of a stock figure, but these are small quibbles. Still a very good choice to take to the beach or anywhere else a pleasurable read is needed.
A note on Titan reprints. MacInnes novels are easier to find because of Titan Books, and that's nice. However their process of digitally scanning old volumes does not include any copy editing. Their editions are filled with bizarre punctuation, misspelling and downright errors, which is not so nice for the reader.
Good companions for Assignment in Brittany would be Brat Farrar, by Josephine Tey, and Rogue Male, by Geoffrey Household. Brat Farrar is also a dead ringer who sets out to take the place of a missing son and has to figure out the other man's life in context. The central character in Rogue Male is hiding from a menacing military presence, and his efforts to hide and gain intelligence are similar to Hearne's.
Assignment in Brittany was her second novel, set during World War II and published in 1942 -- very much of-the-moment in her day. She captures beautifully the isolation Hearne feels as he hides in occupied France and figures out what he can and cannot accomplish. The romance is a little predictable by modern standards, and the crotchety mother has become a bit of a stock figure, but these are small quibbles. Still a very good choice to take to the beach or anywhere else a pleasurable read is needed.
A note on Titan reprints. MacInnes novels are easier to find because of Titan Books, and that's nice. However their process of digitally scanning old volumes does not include any copy editing. Their editions are filled with bizarre punctuation, misspelling and downright errors, which is not so nice for the reader.
Good companions for Assignment in Brittany would be Brat Farrar, by Josephine Tey, and Rogue Male, by Geoffrey Household. Brat Farrar is also a dead ringer who sets out to take the place of a missing son and has to figure out the other man's life in context. The central character in Rogue Male is hiding from a menacing military presence, and his efforts to hide and gain intelligence are similar to Hearne's.
September 14, 2018
Oh, how I am enjoying my ramble through these old classic spy thrillers!
This is my fourth by Helen MacInnes, and what I particularly love about her is how completely she immerses the reader in the setting. Physical descriptions that are unique to the place, details of culture, history and food, particular characteristics of national/regional identity - it's like a travelogue seamlessly wrapped around the action of the plot. In this one, we get a close-up view of traditional Breton life as it was in the 1930s/40s and it has an unmistakable ring of authenticity to it.
I also appreciate how the 'old-timey' authors in the thriller genre (and a handful of contemporary ones) give themselves time to let stories and characters develop, for action and tension to build naturally. There's something that feels more mature and accomplished about that approach instead of the shoehorning of explosions, assassinations and chase scenes in the opening pages of a novel. Yes, of course, there are aspects of the writing that speak to outdated social conventions and they grate on the modern nerves (they are always chiefly related to gender roles, even when the writer is a woman), but I'm sure there's writing today that we'll roll our eyes over in 50 years so I don't subtract points for that.
The premise of the book requires some suspension of disbelief. Could a British agent really so convincingly impersonate a well-known resident of a small rural town? Oh, who cares?! It's an entertaining story and there's a nice little romantic subplot. My only beef? Damn, Helen, WTF with that ending?!
This is my fourth by Helen MacInnes, and what I particularly love about her is how completely she immerses the reader in the setting. Physical descriptions that are unique to the place, details of culture, history and food, particular characteristics of national/regional identity - it's like a travelogue seamlessly wrapped around the action of the plot. In this one, we get a close-up view of traditional Breton life as it was in the 1930s/40s and it has an unmistakable ring of authenticity to it.
I also appreciate how the 'old-timey' authors in the thriller genre (and a handful of contemporary ones) give themselves time to let stories and characters develop, for action and tension to build naturally. There's something that feels more mature and accomplished about that approach instead of the shoehorning of explosions, assassinations and chase scenes in the opening pages of a novel. Yes, of course, there are aspects of the writing that speak to outdated social conventions and they grate on the modern nerves (they are always chiefly related to gender roles, even when the writer is a woman), but I'm sure there's writing today that we'll roll our eyes over in 50 years so I don't subtract points for that.
The premise of the book requires some suspension of disbelief. Could a British agent really so convincingly impersonate a well-known resident of a small rural town? Oh, who cares?! It's an entertaining story and there's a nice little romantic subplot. My only beef? Damn, Helen, WTF with that ending?!
November 29, 2017
To prepare for a fiction class I recently taught, I re-read Assignment in Brittany which I had read back in the '70s. It was, as then, a wonderful read: good, old fashioned espionage. It says a great deal about a book when the major spy organizations in the UK made this book required reading for their agents. MacInnes' husband was in MI6, and her book was so well done that the government suspected her husband of revealing classified information to Helen. He had not (Tom Clancy had the same experience after his book The Hunt for Red October was published. He was called before a congressional committee to reveal how he got his submarine information. His reply: "I went to the public library.")The characters are well drawn and the situations very realistic. The book is so well written that there is tension/suspense on nearly every page. MacInnes will always have a special place in my pantheon of favorite writers. Apparently I am not alone in my love of her books. In 2013 all were reissued.
June 7, 2013
Helen MacInnes starts with the hoary cliche of the spy who just happens to be a dead ringer for the man he is assigned to impersonate to tell a frequently involving story that too often depends on unlikely coincidence to move the plot along. The novel is strongest when it is depicting the grim camaraderie that arises among an occupied people. I admire the way MacInnes didn't include action just for the sake of it, but nevertheless I sometimes felt that something was needed to break up the interminable tramps through the countryside. There's a sweet love story and the whole thing ends on a nicely ambiguous note.
October 8, 2017
I read this years ago and its characters (especially the pair brought together in a strange romance) have always remained with me. Reading it now, I better appreciate the author's perception of her time -- the uncertainty of the war's trajectory in 1942 -- and now I understand the metaphor of the ending. I feel desperate for a sequel or an epilogue to learn what happened to the main characters a few years later when the war finally ended.
February 24, 2018
Imagination !
As I sat in my chair reading ,the room vanished and my concerns rose as I was not sure how we got into the predicament and how to get out safely. That is the beauty of the mind and the author. You are transported without any reason to the action and situations transfixed by only the use of words. Great read!
As I sat in my chair reading ,the room vanished and my concerns rose as I was not sure how we got into the predicament and how to get out safely. That is the beauty of the mind and the author. You are transported without any reason to the action and situations transfixed by only the use of words. Great read!
March 23, 2018
I never thought I was much of a spy/adventure reader, but I'm hooked because of Helen MacInnes. This is the third book I've read of this author and I'm sure I'll work my way through all of them....sort of like potato chips. Each of MacInnes' characters are well defined to a point where I felt personally connected with them. Suspenseful to the very end.
July 31, 2015
A very down to earth but yet a very taut thriller. No flashy action scenes, just good ol' shrewdness behind enemy occupied territory.
And I liked the end as well.
In my opinion, Helen MacInnes deserves to be among the suspense and thriller greats like Christie, MacLean and Innes.
And I liked the end as well.
In my opinion, Helen MacInnes deserves to be among the suspense and thriller greats like Christie, MacLean and Innes.
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